


A Study in Loyalties

by GrecianHeart



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Character Study, Falling In Love, Finn-centric, Force-Sensitive Finn, Happy Ending, In A Non-Romantic Way, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylo Ren Redemption, Kylo cares for Finn, Love in a season of death, M/M, Muteness, Mutual Pining, Romance, Smut, he communicates using sign language and the force, mute!Finn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-06 09:47:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16830175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrecianHeart/pseuds/GrecianHeart
Summary: In which Eighty-Seven discovers his morals, betrays an army, falls in love, and finds his family.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My headcanon is that Finn is a mute Knight of Ren that is basically Kylo's right hand man, placed in charge of training Rey.
> 
> It is my understanding that mute is an offensive way to refer to deaf people, making the incorrect assumption that people who have impaired hearing also can't make sounds. 
> 
> In this fic, Finn is actually mute, as in his hearing is fine, but he can't form words.

FN-2187 was 10 years old when he first heard of the Force.

Earlier that morning, he’d been unceremoniously separated from his age group during lessons and handed over to strangers. He had to lock his knees to stop them from trembling, he was so scared. Cadets weren’t to be taken away from their lessons, and they weren’t to be taken away from the academy. His heart pounded as he was made to board a strange shuttle, and flew away from the academy, the only place he’d ever known.

Had he done something wrong? He’d heard about cadets who had done poorly in their duties or shown behavior unbefitting of a stormtrooper, and as punishment they’d be taken to a dark room and injected with fluid that burned, and they would stay there for hours, and be glassy eyed and silent for days when they came out. In cases of true deviance, one of his instructors had once said, they would be decommissioned. He didn’t know what it meant, but he knew it was a bad thing.

He wanted to cry, and scream, wanted to run back to the academy, away from these strange people taking him away, but he stood still, as the journey went on, as the shuttle landed in a new place, and no one told him what was to happen to him.

He was taken to a room before he had the opportunity to look around the new place. FN-2187 tried to hide his trembling as he stood alone in the room, waiting for what seemed an eternity, his mind churning up possibilities of punishment to torment him with.

The door opened. A tall hulking figure walked in, towering over FN-2187. The person stood in front of him without speaking for a bit, observing him.

“Remove your helmet.”

He obeyed, his gauntleted hands trembling violently as he did so.

“Don’t be afraid. You will not be harmed.” This calmed some of the fear in his heart, although he was still wary of this man. “What is your designation, Cadet?”

He hesitated, unsure of how to communicate.

The man seemed to understand his predicament. “I understand sign language. Place your helmet on the floor and answer me.”

He put his helmet on the floor before raising his hands to sign.

_FN-2187_.

“FN-2187. I am holding something behind my back. Focus very hard and tell me what it is.”

What sort of task was that? How was he to know what it was that he couldn’t see? But FN-2187 did as he was told, closing his eyes and casting his mind about for what it could be. He raised his hand to answer, his movements shaky and unsure.

_A piece of plastisteel, Sir._

The man nodded, throwing the item on the ground.

“Do you know why you’re here, FN-2187?”

_No, Sir._

“Do you know of the Force?”

Another negative reply.

“That is what you are here to learn about. You have it, and I will teach you to use it. My name is Kylo Ren, and I will be your master.”


	2. First Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Remember how Finn is mute? He communicates using the Force, and basically he can direct his thoughts at as few or as many people as he wants. Force sensitive or not, they'll hear him. 
> 
> My working explanation for this that since every living thing has a bit of the Force in them, if he broadcasts his thoughts to you, you'll hear it. He can read your mind to pick up your response if you don't want to be heard, or you can speak out loud if its okay to be heard. He establishes consent beforehand, though, cuz he's nice like that. :)
> 
> So italicized text is Finn, and bold text is Rey.
> 
> Yes, I know that's not how the Force works.
> 
> No, of course I don't care.

Rey glanced nervously at her master, gripping her staff tighter.

He looked as serene as ever, studying the readout on his datapad, seemingly unaware of the atmosphere around him.

Rey sighed, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Then shifted it back. Then again…

_Calm down. Stop fidgeting. It’ll be fine._

She stared at him, disbelief clearly written on her face.

 _I mean it._ He finally looked up at her. _If the map is there, it’s a good thing for us, getting our hands on it. If it’s not, we’ll find it somewhere else._

 **If we find it there, Kylo also gets his hands on it** , Rey thought, directing a glance towards the hulking figure pacing the cockpit.

 _There’s always a huge chance of that happening, no matter when and where we find it._ He replied, trying to pacify her. _What matters is that the Resistance gets there first._

**We can’t be sure they will. We don’t even have a way of getting it to them.**

He rolled his eyes. _You worry too much._

**You worry too little.**

Before he could retort, Kylo Ren straightened up, looking through the viewport of the shuttle.

“We’re here.”

The air was thick with smoke as they walked down the ramp of the transport. Flametroopers had set fire to many of the shelters dotted around, driving the villagers out of their homes. Blasters were being fired, filling the air with crackling energy. Kylo Ren activated his lightsaber.

A quick movement caught Rey’s eye. She watched a figure silhouetted by the dancing flames as it darted between the shadows formed by the huts, firing blue blaster bolts at stormtroopers before moving.

She drew her master’s attention. **Look.**

He glanced in the direction she had indicated just in time to see the figure fire and run to another hiding place.

**The Resistance uses blue blaster bolts.**

He nods. One look at Ren showed he hadn’t noticed their interaction.

The stormtroopers herded the villagers into the clearing in the middle of the settlement, ignoring their cries of fear. Rey watched as some of the children are taken aside and dragged into the shuttle. New recruits, she knew, to be taken to the training base, reconditioned and indoctrinated. She closed her eyes for a brief second.

 _Rey._ She opened her eyes to look at him. He passed her a small object, looking behind the crowd of villagers to the shadowy group of huts. She looked up just in time to see a dark figure dart away from the outer circle of huts, running around stormtroopers and dodging blaster fire.

Rey ran around the outer circle of huts, yelling at the troopers. “Hold your fire! Hold your fire!” She winced watching the person jump and roll down the steep slope of the elevation the village was built on.

Securing the data card in her robes, Rey followed her target down the slope and into the dense swamp.

* * *

Kaya woke up to the screams of terror and the acrid smell of smoke. Swearing under her breath, she dressed and grabbed her blaster, running out of the small hut.

The village was burning.

Moving through the crowd of terrified villagers, she quickly discovered the source of all the commotion. Over twenty Stormtroopers had entered the small settlement, setting fire to everything around them. Even as she aimed a shot at a trooper that had just grabbed a villager by the hair, she knew there was nothing she could do to make any difference. There were too many troopers on ground already, even more pouring out of their transport.

Kaya ran around a small hut and shot another stormtrooper, slinking away before any of the soldiers could locate the source of the blaster fire. She managed to shoot two more troopers before something caught her eye through the shifting haze of smoke. On the heels of the last stormtroopers to leave the shuttle were three figures clad from head to toe in black. One of them wielded a crackling red blade. Her heart stopped.

She couldn’t be sure what they were looking for, but she had a sneaking suspicion that they followed the same rumors that led her here.

Guilt filled her as looked at the terrified inhabitants of the village. Even if she could do anything to help, it would be in the best interests of everyone involved if she wasn’t found here. Her small ship wasn’t too far away. She doubted she would be missed in the commotion.

She hid behind an untouched hut and watched as stormtroopers rounded up villagers that hadn’t managed to escape, trying to ignore the hollow tugging at her chest as she watched a small child crying while being separated from its mother. Spotting a gap in the formation of stormtroopers, she took her chance and made a mad dash for the swamp just behind the village, dodging villagers and stormtroopers. She covered a short distance up a rock protrusion, only just managing to jump over the peak and to the other side, blaster fire whizzing over her head.

The ground disappeared under her feet as she rolled down a steep incline, rocks and branches digging into her flesh. The instant she felt the ground levelling out and her momentum decreasing, she got to her feet and started running.

She kept running even as she got into the cluster of trees, dodging branches, leaping over roots and scaring small animals out of their shelters. The canopy was thick, visibility was low, but even as she nearly sank into a pool of foul-smelling mud, she kept running. When she was far away enough that she couldn’t hear the screams from the village, she finally slowed to a halt, gulping in air and got her navigator out of her pack.

Trudging through rotting vegetation and squinting at the screen in the lowlight, Kaya didn’t hear someone making their way towards her. Her heart jumped into her throat as a hand clamped onto her arm. Kaya turned on the spot, swinging her fist towards the offender, but she found her wrist seized by a small hand, held above her head.

She heard a hiss through the darkness telling her to “Calm down!” even as she was dragged into a darker part of the swamp. Once she was free, she turned around, blaster already in hand. Pointing it at the woman in front of her, she whispered, “Explain yourself.”

The woman in front of her was quite small, short and slim, yet the staff strapped to her back looked extremely menacing. She wore black robes that were hemmed in mud from the ground. Kaya refocused on her face as the woman opened her mouth to speak.

“You’re with the Resistance.” Without waiting for confirmation, she went on, “I’d like to help you. The Resistance, I mean. You’ll find some very valuable information on the data card I’d like to give you, if you’d let me.”

Kaya signaled with her blaster for her to go ahead, still wary. The woman plunged her hand into her robes, pulling out a bright blue data card. “There’s also a time and place for us to meet up again if your leaders are agreeable.” She extended her hand. “Take it.”

Kaya took the card, still doubtful. “Who are you?”

“I’m a member of the First Order.”

Kaya’s mind went back to the figures she saw exiting the shuttle and her eyes widened. “You’re a Knight of Ren.”

“My master and I just want to help.”

“Who is your master?”

“Someone who wants to help the Resistance.”

Kaya frowned.

The woman threw her hands up. “I need to go.” She looked at the card in Kaya’s hand. “That’s the best proof I can give you of honest intentions. You’ll know where you need to be.”

Kaya held up her blaster until the woman was out of sight. She spun around trying to find a way out of this dark part of the swamp. She had not taken a dozen steps forward before a minute reflection caught her eye. Squinting in disbelief, she ran her hands over the hull of her ship.

She looked back over her shoulder before clambering into the pilot’s seat, ignoring the inquiring beeps of her astromech. She took off minutes later, entering hyperspace co-ordinates. As the stars became thin lines and stretched into infinity, she ran her hand over the data card in her pocket, going over the strange encounter.

* * *

Eighty-Seven watched as Kylo roared in rage. He sighed. Ren had caught a memory from one of the villagers about a woman that had come asking questions. Seeing a chance to explain Rey’s absence as well as preventing him from sending anyone else after the woman, Eighty-Seven told him that he had sent Rey after someone who had run from the village into the swamp. To his relief, this seemed to mollify Ren and he didn’t send anyone else to retrieve the woman. A through search of the remains of the village had shown that the Resistance member had left nothing behind, and the villager she had spoken to at length was not in the gathering, nor was he in the huts. Most likely escaped, thought Eighty-Seven, thankful.

Seeing as there was no use for them anymore, the stormtroopers had been ordered to retreat and were now forming neat ranks and marching into the shuttle. All things considered, there could have been worse casualties, especially to the villagers, so he was pleased with the outcome, but Ren’s frustration was pouring off him in waves.

 _The map was not here anyway,_ trying to placate Kylo. _We still have a chance of finding it._

“So does the Resistance!” Kylo was seething. “So does the Resistance, and with every passing day, the chances of them finding it get bigger. How did they get here before us?”

_Intel isn’t always new by the time it gets to us, and the Resistance is watching too._

Kylo opened his mouth to reply, but Eighty-Seven had turned away from him. He turned too to watch Rey come to a stop in front of them.

“So?” Rey looked confused momentarily before her face cleared.

“I didn’t catch her. The swamp is very dark. I heard the sound of ship engines, but she was already flying away.”

Kylo turned and stalked back to the shuttle, swearing viciously.

**Bad temper, that one.**

Eighty-Seven gave her a look before walking towards the shuttle himself. Rey sighed and trailed after him.

* * *

Poe Dameron was a very cautious man.

Contrary to popular opinion, he wasn’t the kind of man to rush into a situation without considering all possibilities first. His frequent near-death experiences were an unfortunate by-product of doing what he needed to do, not an indication of recklessness.

The events of the last few hours kept on running through his head, still covered by haze of incredulity. He had come back from a mission, only to hear that they had received good intel from a Knight of Ren, and a chance to get more if they wished. Even more baffling, there were serious talks of taking them up on the offer.

“And she told you she wants to help?” The woman nodded. “She didn’t say why?” Negative. Poe frowned at the white walls of the medbay.

He opened his mouth to voice another question, but the General spoke before he could say the words. “I think we may leave Kaya to rest now.” She addressed the woman in question, thanking her, then indicating for Poe to follow her. Wishing Kaya a quick recovery, he trailed the General as she led the way out of medbay.

Poe brought up his doubts as they walked. “Ma’am, the idea of a Knight of Ren wanting to help the Resistance is ridiculous.” The General nodded. “It is almost certainly a trap.” She nodded again. “You’re considering it.”

She looked up at him. “It deserves consideration. The intel we’ve already received has proven to be accurate.”

True, and Poe was baffled at first why they would give genuine information if it was a trap, but a possibility had just occurred to him. “We only did a scout on the facility they told us about. It’s possible the next group of people we send there may walk into an ambush.”

She sighed. “Poe, as unlikely as it is for a Knight to offer assistance, if it’s a ruse, it is not a very good one. I can’t believe they would expect us to take such an offer seriously. However, in case it is a genuine offer to help, we are in desperate need of any help we can get. Information from a high-ranking member of the First Order would be invaluable.”

“They know that. Respectfully, Ma’am, they might expect us to take that risk.”

The General sighed again. “Yes. And I can only ask my best to undertake this mission.” She gave him a meaningful look.

Poe understood, and despite his doubts, he knew that if the Knight sincerely wanted to help, any intel they could get would be a tremendous help. Besides, he’d do anything for the Resistance.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Good.” She gave him an approving nod. “The date we were given is two weeks from now. That is plenty of time to formulate an escape plan in case our informant is not as … helpful as we’d like.”

Poe grimaced. “Let’s hope for the best.”

“Of course. Maybe take a look at the location we were given? How far away?”

“About three hours, if I can take an X-wing.” Poe grinned.

“Nicely done, Dameron.” Her face was stern, but he could detect a note of humor in her voice. “We can’t afford to lose another X-wing. You reckless flyboys go through them like they’re made of flimsi.”

“General, in defense of my pilots, our ships seem to be shot at a lot. Can’t imagine why…”

“Which is exactly why you’ll be taking an old Y-wing. No one will care if that gets blasted out of the sky.”

Poe gasped, clutching his chest. “General! I’ll have you know the trainees are awfully attached those ships.”

“Nonsense. I’m sure some of them would be glad to see at least one of them go.”

“Such disrespect for a piece of history.” He shook his head in mock disappointment.

She laughed. “When you’re as old as I am, you’re allowed to disrespect anything.”

They got close to their command center, a grey ferroconcrete structure that gave the impression of hunkering into the ground, nestling into the tall trees behind it.

She placed a hand on Poe’s arm before he could follow her down the path to the entrance. “Go and rest. Get some food and sleep. You’re going to be doing a lot of flying soon.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He hoped the relief wasn’t too plain in his voice. With a playful salute, he turned away from her and made his way towards the living quarters.

He was still deep in thought, bumping into several people on his way to his quarters, nearly tripping over several droids, and managing to walk past his room without realizing it until he was in the next hallway. Turning back, he walked until he stopped in front of his door, palming the reader next to it and taking a few steps before collapsing on the bed.

BB-8 burbled happily from its charging space, rolling over and humming when Poe patted its sensory dish. He laughed to himself. “A guy leaves for a few days and everyone loses their minds, huh, bud?”

BB-8 beeped in understanding, his metal body warm under Poe’s fingers.

“We could use the help.” He hummed thoughtfully. “Wonder what made ‘em decide out to blue to help, huh?”

[be careful, Friend-Poe. we lack sufficient information to make conclusions of their intentions.]

“I know, buddy. Just wondering.”


	3. A Statement of Intentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Considering the fact that he was meeting up with one or more unknown First Order members - Knights of Ren, for Force sake -forget the intel,Poe will count himself lucky if he leaves this planet with all his limbs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> underlined text is Kylo. Take note that telepathic voice isn't in quotation marks.
> 
> I looked up Force abilities and surprise, surprise, the mind to mind communication is a thing, although according to wookiepedia, it consists mostly of emotions and faint impressions. One would have to be very gifted or very well trained to hold entire conversations. It makes sense for Finn to be good at it and train to get better at it, making it easier for him to communicate.

FN-2187 was 11, and his chest felt like it was going to cave in on itself.

Eighty-Seven hurried through the corridors, which were blessedly empty except for a few patrol squads. He only just managed to stumble into his room and shut the door before sliding to the ground and bursting into tears. He sat there for a long time, clutching his still bleeding wound, running his words over and over again in his mind.

_“I have no use for a trainee who can’t learn simple lessons!” The creature roared, tossing FN-2187 against the wall with the Force. He cowered, pulling his knees up to his chest and covering his head with his arms._

_“Get up.” Shakily rising to his feet, Eighty-Seven watched the creature gesture the red-armored figure forward. “Again.”_

_Again the weapon came swinging at his head, again he rolled and came up on the offensive, again his opponent tripped him up and again he stumbled and fell. This time when he was thrown against the wall, he felt the skin on his head split open and blood trickle down the side of his face._

_“Get up.” Trembling, FN-2187 got to his feet again, looking up into icy blue eyes with fear and revulsion curdling in his chest. “We are done for the day. Tomorrow, we do this again.”_

_Yes, Master, thank_ _—_

_“Remember, FN-2187, you are allowed to live for as long as you are useful.” The creature sneered. “Don’t make that day come any sooner than it must.”_

_Yes, Master._

He was roused from his thoughts by a knocking on the door. Stifling his sobbing, he stilled, hoping whoever it was would simply leave.

I know you’re there, little one. Open the door.

Eighty-Seven didn’t respond.

I have an override code. Even his mindvoice was layered in amusement.

 _Use it, then._ He replied, annoyed by his persistence.

The door panel opened with a whoosh and Kylo Ren walked in, stopping in front of Eighty-Seven and crouching to meet his eyes.

Your wound needs cleaning. He tapped Eighty-Seven’s forehead, making him wince.

 _It’s fine._ Kylo stared at Eighty-Seven, taking in the tear streaked face and bleeding forehead, before getting up to pull out the standard medical kit placed in every private room on the ship.

Sit on the bed. He tapped the panel next to the sink in the refresher, pulling out the white box.

_I said it’s fine!_

I didn’t ask if it’s fine. Kylo replied smoothly, pouring rubbing alcohol on a swab and approaching him. I issued an order, he said, looking at him expectantly.

Glaring in annoyance, Eighty-Seven nonetheless did as he was told. He hissed as the swab made contact with the wound. The sharp smell of the disinfectant stung his nose as Kylo worked with gentle fingers.

_I hate the Supreme Leader._

Don’t let anyone hear you say that.

_Har har, very funny._ Eighty-Seven snarked as Kylo chuckled at his own joke.

He disposed of the swab before coming back to where Eighty-Seven sat. “I’ve never been particularly gifted at Force Healing, so you’re going to have to excuse my clumsy work. I can make I stop hurting though.” At his nod, Kylo ran his fingers over the wound, and Eighty-Seven could feel the blood stop flowing, and the throbbing was becoming less intense.

They were silent for a minute before he spoke again. _It’s true. I hate him. He’s mean and scary and he …_ His eyes welled with tears again and he looked down, embarrassed and wiped them away harshly with the back of his hand.

The mattress shifted when Kylo put his weight on it, but he didn’t look up. The usual flowing cloak was lacking, soft tunic and simple pants in its place, and the mask was gone. “It’s understandable to hate him. He is not the kindest teacher,” Kylo mused, “but, like it or not, your training will make you strong. You need only finish your training as soon as possible. And then you shall be free.”

_Does he have to be the one to train me?_

“Well, until he decides otherwise, yes.” Kylo sighed, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Once he deems you satisfactory in basic combat and use of the Force, he will release you to the Knights of Ren to complete your training. Then you will never train with him again.”

_Really?_

“Yes, really.” He looked down into hope-filled brown eyes with a smile. “That’s motivation, right?”

The boy’s shoulders slumped. _If I ever manage to get it before he kills me…_

Kylo’s hand tightened on his shoulder. You will. And the firm sureness in Kylo’s voice made Eighty-Seven’s chest warm.

* * *

Eighty-Seven wiped the sweat of his brow, glaring up at the relentless twin suns of Tatooine.

_Hey, do you think we could Force Push at least one of these suns out of its orbit?_

Rey snorted. **Uhuh, okay. If all planetary bodies in this system go spinning wildly out of control, causing cataclysmic collisions between some of them, and or the conditions of this planetary bodies change as they rearrange themselves around new barycenter, possibly turning this hot sand desert into a cold sand desert, or even worse, a hotter sand desert,** she turned and poked him in the middle of the chest with her staff as he smirked at her, **I’m blaming you.**

 _As long as you help me_ , he said, grinning at her and holding up his hand, _I solemnly swear I’ll take responsibility for all cataclysmic collisions, planetary destructions and accidental terraforming that may or may not occur._

 **Is it terraforming if it’s accidental and it kills every human on Tatooine?** Rey wondered as they observed the bustling crowd of Mos Eisley. She watched dispassionately as a Toydarian shopkeeper throttled a dug that had been heckling him for the past few minutes, and a street urchin took the chance to steal some fruit from the stand.

They were standing on the flat roof of one of many low buildings that formed a good part of the spaceport. The plastoid-and-stone buildings burnt reddish-gold in the harsh glare of the setting sun. She ran her hand over the small dome of the roof they were on and sighed when her hand came away with dust.

**Everything on this damned planet is coated in dust.**

_What were you expecting? Gold nuggets?_ Eighty-Seven snickered. _And look whose talking. Sometimes I swear you still sneeze out sand particles._

 **We could have gone to the other spaceport** , she said, glaring at a pair of beings that appeared to be eyeing her pack from the building opposite them. They turned away quickly. **The one that _isn’t_ known as ‘the armpit of the galaxy’, I’m sure you’ve heard of it.**

Eighty-Seven, who had been staring at something in the crowd below them, suddenly turned to her with a bright smile. _There are worse parts of the anatomy to be. Also, I think our contact just entered the port._

Rey followed his gaze to a human male with black hair, a leather jacket covering his clothes and a blaster strapped to his thigh.

**It was pretty dark in that swamp, but I’m fairly sure that was a woman I spoke to.**

_Sent someone else, they don’t trust us, remember?_ said Eighty-Seven, eyes intently fixed on the man, who now seemed to be examining a basin full of gorgs. His eyes, however, were darting in every direction and he looked ill at ease. Understandably so, in this crowd of coarse homespun tunics and hidden faces, he stuck out like a sore thumb.

**Someone more likely to escape if things went wrong, maybe?**

_Maybe_ , he agreed, moving towards the back of the building and gesturing for her to follow. They jumped off the roof, landing softly on the ground, and the cloud of sand that came up made Eighty-Seven sneeze.

**How is he planning on finding us?**

_I think the one you spoke to would have described you. You should go get him._

**And you think he’ll just follow me?**

_Stare at him with intent, he’ll understand._

Rey rolled her eyes, but went anyway, shaking her head at him.

* * *

Of all the nerve-wracking things Poe Dameron had done — outside of a starfighter anyway— waiting for a Knight of Ren (or more than one) he still wasn’t sure wouldn’t attempt to capture him was in the top ten. Add the fact that he wasn’t sure what the person looked like, and that boosted his current situation to top five.

Kaya had tried her best, giving him a description of a slim, short woman (“with dark-ish hair, I think, though I could barely see,” so she could be white blonde for all Poe knew) who wielded a staff.

“There will be more than one person, I think,” Kaya informed Poe and General Organa, while they were making their plans. “She said something about her master. ‘My master and I just want to help.’”

“I don’t think Kylo Ren is the Master she was talking about,” murmured Poe, staring at the console in front of him.

“There were three of them, I saw three in the village,” Kaya added, “but I didn’t see what the last one looked like.”

They had decided against backup; in the event it was an elaborate trap, a team would be easier for the enemy to spot and more difficult to co-ordinate an escape than one man and one Rebellion-era starfighter. Poe couldn’t even bring BB-8, and he missed the droid’s presence at his side right now, even though it would have spent all its time complaining about sand in its circuity.

He wandered around the spaceport, trying to identify someone who looked anything like Kaya’s description. As if deliberately out to thwart him, many of the beings here wore face coverings of a sort, as shelter from the extreme heat — or to hide from other beings. Eisley wasn’t exactly known for hosting the most law-abiding beings, he thought wryly, squinting his eyes against the glare of the suns. But it was a good choice to meet up, as the people here tended to keep to themselves.

And the woman probably won’t recognize me anyway, he thought to himself as he stopped in front of a stand full of what looked like prickly eggs. He stared in a mix of disgust and curiosity, until one of them twitched and oozed a greenish liquid. Poe backed away quickly.

He let his eye wander again, a vague course of action coming together in his mind… and he locked eyes with someone staring directly at him from three stalls to his left.

He kept his face expressionless, to his credit, and stared back, taking note of the staff she gripped in her hand. They stayed locked in this wordless match for what felt like a long time to Poe, but what was probably a few seconds. Then she gave him a quick nod, whirled on the spot and vanished into an alley next to her. After shooting off a prayer to the little gods of his home world, Poe followed her as inconspicuously as he could.

He moved cautiously, turning a corner just in time to see her vanish in the shadows behind a building. On getting to that corner, he was suddenly faced with two people. His hand twitched as he instinctively reached for his blaster, but the woman stepped in front of him before he could even touch the hilt.

“No. He’s with me.” Poe looked at her a moment and relaxed his hand, and she stepped back again.

“I assume you’re the woman who’s got information for the Resistance?” Poe looked at them carefully. They didn’t look like what he’d have expected Knights of Ren to look. Aside from a distinct lack of black robes, the man carried a blaster — there wasn’t a lightsaber in sight.

“Yes,” she said after a glance between her and the man. “This is my master.” Poe nodded at the man and he nodded back.

“You might not get the both of us all the time,” the woman said. “One of us may be held back for whatever reason, most likely me. At least one of us would be there most of the time. But if you don’t see either of us within 30 minutes of the time we gave you, you must leave. It would probably mean our superiors are on that planet too. I’m sure you understand why that would be a bad thing.”

“Of course,” said Poe, still looking intently at the both of them. The man hadn’t spoken a single word, instead looking around them as the woman spoke. He suddenly refocused his attention on them and pulled a data card out of a pocket, holding it out to Poe. The woman spoke again as he stretched his hand to take it. “The card has the location for our next meeting. Don’t send another person next time.”

Poe pocketed the card. “Why are you helping the Resistance?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

He could tell they were expecting this question; the woman didn’t miss a beat. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Far from alleviating his suspicion, it only heightened it. “What do you want?”

Now they both looked confused, like they didn’t understand the question. A quick glance passed between them before she answered this time. “We want the same thing you do,” a hint of puzzlement in her voice, “we want to bring down the First Order.” She looked around her. “We have to leave. Until next time.”

And they did just that, turning away and walking quickly down the narrow path, turning a corner and disappearing from sight.

Well, aside from the fact he still wasn't satisfied with their motives, he thought as he turned to go the way he came, that could have gone worse.


End file.
